Transfusion science
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Over the last decade, the costs of blood procurement have increased as a result of regulatory pressure and scientific progress in understanding transfusion-transmitted disease. At the same time, hospitals are under tremendous pressure to reduce costs. ⋯ These decisions, however, should be made on assessments of the total cost of a safe and reliable blood supply: recruitment, collection, donor management, testing, manufacturing/processing, quality control, inventory management, quality assurance, regulatory, overhead and availability. If all of these costs are considered, it is unlikely that cost reduction can be achieved through hospital collections.